By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, June 23 – The Canadian dollar finished slightly lower against its US counterpart to end the week. The loonie was pressured by a softer inflation report which reduced investor optimism about a potential interest rate hike.
However, TD Securities says the level of economic activity in Canada is still strong that a potential increase could be coming.
The loonie ended Friday at US$0.7537 cents or C$1.3268, compared to Thursday’s close of US$0.7552 or C$1.3241.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 99.66 points, or 0.7%, to 15,319.56.
The TSX’s materials group soared 1.8% as gains in metals pointed the way higher.
Kinross climbed 3.5% while Barrick Gold posted a gain of 2.7%.
However it was a day to forget for Blackberry. The tech giant fell 12.3% after fiscal data failed to impress investors.
Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–dn $ 0.01 at $ 23.87
Agrium Incorporated———-up $ 0.25 at $122.39
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 4.22
Maple Leaf Foods————-up $ 0.12 at $ 33.01
Potash Corp. of Sask———up $ 0.10 at $ 21.96
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
